Database Services

Slipway makes it easy to provision and manage databases for your Sails applications. No more manual Docker commands or connection string juggling.

Supported Databases

Database	Type	Use Case
PostgreSQL	Relational	Primary database for most apps
MySQL	Relational	Alternative relational database
Redis	Key-Value	Caching, sessions, queues
MongoDB	Document	Document-based storage

Creating a Database

Via CLI

# Interactive (prompts for type)
slipway db:create mydb

# Explicit type
slipway db:create mydb --type=postgres
slipway db:create cache --type=redis
slipway db:create docs --type=mongodb

Via Dashboard

1. Go to your project and select an environment
2. In the Services section, click + Add service (or use the dropdown menu and select Create service)
3. Select the database type
4. Configure name and version
5. Click Create

Linking Databases to Apps

The magic of Slipway's service linking: automatic environment variable injection.

How It Works

When you link a database to an app, Slipway automatically sets the appropriate connection environment variable:

slipway db:link mydb myapp

This automatically sets:

Database Type	Environment Variable
PostgreSQL	DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@host:5432/mydb
MySQL	DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:pass@host:3306/mydb
Redis	REDIS_URL=redis://host:6379
MongoDB	DATABASE_URL=mongodb://user:pass@host:27017/mydb

Sails Configuration

Your Sails app can read these directly in config/datastores.js:

// config/datastores.js
module.exports.datastores = {
  default: {
    // Slipway sets DATABASE_URL automatically when you link a database
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL
  }
}

For Redis (sessions, caching):

// config/session.js
module.exports.session = {
  adapter: '@sailshq/connect-redis',
  url: process.env.REDIS_URL
}

Unlinking

To remove a database link:

slipway db:unlink mydb myapp

This removes the environment variable. The database itself is not deleted.

Connecting Directly

Need to run SQL queries or inspect data? Connect directly to your database:

# PostgreSQL - opens psql
slipway db:connect mydb

# MySQL - opens mysql client
slipway db:connect mysql-db

# Redis - opens redis-cli
slipway db:connect cache

# MongoDB - opens mongosh
slipway db:connect docs

Example Session

$ slipway db:connect mydb

Connecting to PostgreSQL database 'mydb'...

psql (16.1)
Type "help" for help.

mydb=> \dt
         List of relations
 Schema |   Name   | Type  | Owner
--------+----------+-------+-------
 public | user     | table | slipway
 public | post     | table | slipway
 public | comment  | table | slipway
(3 rows)

mydb=> SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "user";
 count
-------
   156
(1 row)

Database Management

List All Databases

slipway db:list

Output:

NAME        TYPE        STATUS    LINKED TO       CREATED
mydb        postgres    running   myapp           2 days ago
cache       redis       running   myapp, api      5 days ago
analytics   postgres    running   -               1 week ago

Get Connection URL

Retrieve the connection string for a database:

slipway db:url mydb

Output:

postgres://slipway_abc123:[email protected]:5432/mydb

Security

Connection strings contain credentials. Don't share them or commit them to version control.

Database Info

Get detailed information about a database:

slipway db:info mydb

Output:

Database: mydb
Type: PostgreSQL 16
Status: running
Container: slipway-db-mydb-abc123

Connection:
  Internal Host: mydb.internal
  Internal Port: 5432
  Database: mydb
  Username: slipway_abc123

Linked Apps:
  - myapp (DATABASE_URL)

Created: 2024-01-15 10:30:00

Backups

Create a Backup

slipway db:backup mydb

This creates a timestamped backup:

Creating backup of 'mydb'...
✓ Backup created: mydb-2024-01-20-143022.sql.gz (2.3 MB)

Backup to S3-Compatible Storage

Store backups offsite in S3-compatible storage (R2, Spaces, S3):

1. Configure global storage credentials:

slipway config:set \
  R2_ACCESS_KEY=your-access-key \
  R2_SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key \
  R2_BUCKET=my-backups \
  R2_ENDPOINT=https://account-id.r2.cloudflarestorage.com

2. Backup directly to S3:

slipway db:backup mydb --to-s3

Output:

Creating backup of 'mydb'...
✓ Backup created: mydb-2024-01-20-143022.sql.gz (2.3 MB)
✓ Uploaded to S3: s3://my-backups/slipway/backups/mydb-2024-01-20-143022.sql.gz

3. Configure automatic S3 backups:

# Enable automatic daily backups to S3
slipway db:update mydb --backup-to-s3=true --backup-schedule="0 3 * * *"

Backup Schedule Format

The schedule uses cron format: minute hour day month weekday

• 0 3 * * * - Daily at 3 AM
• 0 3 * * 0 - Weekly on Sundays at 3 AM
• 0 */6 * * * - Every 6 hours

List Backups

slipway db:backups mydb

Output:

BACKUP                           SIZE      LOCATION    CREATED
mydb-2024-01-20-143022.sql.gz   2.3 MB    s3          2 hours ago
mydb-2024-01-19-100000.sql.gz   2.1 MB    s3          1 day ago
mydb-2024-01-18-100000.sql.gz   2.0 MB    local       2 days ago

Restore from Backup

# Restore from local backup
slipway db:restore mydb mydb-2024-01-20-143022.sql.gz

# Restore from S3 backup
slipway db:restore mydb mydb-2024-01-20-143022.sql.gz --from-s3

Destructive Operation

Restoring a backup will replace all data in the database. Make sure you have a recent backup before restoring.

Download Backup

Download a backup to your local machine:

# From local storage
slipway db:backup:download mydb mydb-2024-01-20-143022.sql.gz

# From S3
slipway db:backup:download mydb mydb-2024-01-20-143022.sql.gz --from-s3

Backup Retention

Configure how long to keep backups:

# Keep backups for 30 days
slipway db:update mydb --backup-retention=30d

# Keep last 10 backups
slipway db:update mydb --backup-retention=10

Database Versions

Supported Versions

Database	Versions
PostgreSQL	16 (default), 15, 14, 13
MySQL	8.0 (default), 5.7
Redis	7 (default), 6
MongoDB	7 (default), 6, 5

Specifying Version

slipway db:create mydb --type=postgres --version=15

Connection Pooling

For high-traffic applications, Slipway automatically configures connection pooling:

• PostgreSQL: PgBouncer (optional)
• MySQL: ProxySQL (optional)

Enable pooling when creating a database:

slipway db:create mydb --type=postgres --pooling

Best Practices

1. Use Meaningful Names

# Good - descriptive names
slipway db:create myapp-production --type=postgres
slipway db:create myapp-cache --type=redis

# Avoid - generic names
slipway db:create db1 --type=postgres

2. Separate Databases per Environment

# Production
slipway db:create myapp-prod-db --type=postgres
slipway db:link myapp-prod-db myapp --env=production

# Staging
slipway db:create myapp-staging-db --type=postgres
slipway db:link myapp-staging-db myapp --env=staging

3. Regular Backups

Set up automated backups (coming soon) or run manual backups before major changes:

# Before a migration
slipway db:backup mydb
slipway slide --message "Run migrations"

4. Use Redis for Sessions in Production

# Create Redis for sessions
slipway db:create sessions --type=redis
slipway db:link sessions myapp

Then configure Sails:

// config/env/production.js
module.exports = {
  session: {
    adapter: '@sailshq/connect-redis',
    url: process.env.REDIS_URL
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Connection Refused

If your app can't connect to the database:

1. Verify the database is running:

   slipway db:info mydb

2. Check if the database is linked:

   slipway db:list

3. Verify environment variables:

   slipway env:list myapp

Database Won't Start

Check the database logs:

slipway db:logs mydb

Common issues:

• Out of disk space: Free up space or resize your server
• Out of memory: Reduce max_connections or upgrade server
• Corrupted data: Restore from backup

Slow Queries

1. Connect to the database:

   slipway db:connect mydb

2. For PostgreSQL, check slow queries:

   SELECT query, calls, mean_time
   FROM pg_stat_statements
   ORDER BY mean_time DESC
   LIMIT 10;

What's Next?

• Learn about Helm for querying your database via the Sails REPL
• Set up Environment Variables for other configuration
• Configure Auto-Deploy for continuous deployment